Palma de Mallorca, 7 August. Ran, Matador, Rats on fire, Tanit and Lelagain are the brand new winners of the 29 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre, whereas Iberostar clinches the X-41 trophy. The winners of this 29 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre were decided after today’s two races. Argentinean Matador won in considerable style thus repeating last year’s victory. This is the third victory for Alberto Roemmers’ TP52 in the Copa del Rey, whereas the rest of the winners make their debut on top of the podium of the most important regatta of the Mediterranean. The prize giving ceremony will take place in Ses Voltes gardens, with the presence of the Kings of Spain.
72 footer Ran of Nikklas Zennstrom pulled together an immaculate display clearly overcoming her rivals. In a constant 8 knots see breeze -known as Embat in the local argot- Zennstrom’s Judel & Vrolijk design was able to win the first race of the day by more than a minute’s advantage upon second classified. Alegre and Container started the day on their back foot and Bella Mente was able to pass them in the same race, which turned Ran into the virtual winner. Her crew celebrated it by not running the second race of the day, which was won by American Bella Mente. The owner-drive trophy also went to Ran, whereas Stig was the best boat among the cruisers.
Matador of Alberto Roemmers won her third Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre, second in a row, with a great performance reminiscent of their 2009 title winning form, and gave no chances to the rest of the fleet. After a general recall which cancelled the day’s first start, at 13:25 hours the IRC B fleet started their first race. Bribón and Cristabella displayed a real battle for the second place, thus clearing the way for Matador. That favored the boat steered by Guillermo Parada, which sailed comfortably thanks to the very good job of Parada’s crew, and the good tactics called by Francesco Bruni who chose the right hand side of the course, where a favorable shift placed them in the first position, which they kept till the end of the race. « We are very happy, we have been preparing ourselves for this regatta for a long time, and things have worked out the way we wanted. We’ve enjoyed sailing in Palma a lot, it’s a place that we like a lot and the boat is based here. Hopefully we can maintain this level of performance till the Audi MedCup Circuit in Cartagena in three weeks time », said helmsman Guillermo Parada. CAM was second, and José Cusi’s TP52 crossed third, whereas Cristabella finished fifth. Matador added an eighth win to her run of seven partial victories in the current edition of the Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre, and was able to lift her third Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre trophy, the second in a row.
Regarding the RI 1 division, the winner was decided after the day’s first race. I.Nova steered by Giancarlo Simeoli crossed the line in the first place thus threatening to push Itaca IX out of the podium. Rats on Fire of Rafael Carbonell managed a fourth place which crowned the Arenys the Mar flagged Swan 45 as the winner of the 29 Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. « This is our first win in the Copa del Rey, we’ve been racing in Palma for many years now and this makes us really happy », said Rafael Carbonell. The second place went for Alex Rumbo a Ti steered by Enrique Rubio, whereas Itaca IX loses out a place in the podium to Italian I.Nova.
As far as the RI 2 are concerned, Tanit Medilevel of Maria José Vila, a boat belonging to the historical IMS 670 class, was the best scoring crew in this division. The Grand Soleil 37 belonging to the Real Club de Regatas of Alicante managed seven first places and four second ones in the twelve races that were held during this week. That was more than enough to overcome Movistar steered by Pedro Campos, which started the week as the main favorite for a trophy which could have been her sixth Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. »We’ve been sailing eleven years together, and this is our seventh Copa del Rey I believe. We already won a corinthian Copa del Rey some years ago, but this is more complicated. We started the week off on the right foot, and that’s very important in a regatta as long as this, because afterwards it can prove very difficult to move up », said tactician Toni Sánchez. The crew from Alicante became virtual winner after winning the first race of the day, thus turning also into the best « corinthian » (non professional) boat. Movistar could only manage a second and a fourth place, thus winning silver in her division, whereas Vell Marí was third.
Among the X-35s, Italian Legalain’s consistency was her best weapon in order to win this Copa del Rey Audi Mapfre. Alessandro Solerio’s X-35 became X-35 world champion last year, and the Italian crew showed her winning form throughout this week in the bay of Palma, in spite of the X-35 fleet’s even level. The San Remo Flagged unit won the day’s first race, whereas Red Eléctrica de España of Javier Sanz put all her efforts in trying to gain a place on the podium, and finished second and a fourth. That wasn’t enough to beat Dutch Who’s next tough, neither German X on the beach, which got the silver and bronze in this division.
In the X-41 class, Iberostar of Javier Banderas wins her second Copa del Rey in a row, by also winning the only race her fleet run today. The boat belonging to the Benalmádena Club was virtual winner since yesterday. Second place went to Isato steered by Pablo Braquehais, and Tarhun 1 of Manueal de Tomás became unexpected third classified